A lesson in time
by Coneofwonders
Summary: Partly based on my original story, Legend of the Kung fu python. After a dangerous fight with notorious villain Fenghuang, Mike finds himself thrown back in time at a point just before the choosing of the dragon warrior. Now he has to prove that he is a kung fu student and start fresh for a second time. Surely nothing can go wrong right?
1. From bad to worse

My name is Mike. I've had a rough life as a human being lately but you'd be surprised how quickly things can go from bad to total shit storm. One evening, after returning home I was attacked and stabbed by some thieves. My life wasted so that they could gain thirty pounds and an ipod. I couldn't even remember what had happened until I regained consciousness and found myself in, get this, limbo. Freaking limbo! Before I had an opportunity to learn that for myself, an old tortoise that was nearly as big as I was and could walk on two feet AND could talk, explained to me the reason why I was here. Needless to say I almost broke down because of it. But the tortoise continued. He told me that his name was Oogway, and that he could give me the chance to live again but at a cost. If I was to accept, I would end up in the world Oogway had originally come from instead of being sent back to my own. I took the chance almost at once and was sent into his world. What Oogway forgot to mention however, was that I would no longer be human, but instead a python. Yeah. Not exactly the easiest creature to live as. At that point, my new life had already taken a wrong turn and I quickly found myself a servant of a rhino called Hundun, who seems to speak a little over dramatically time to time. That was when I was taken to a town called the Valley of Peace where I was captured by a group of kung fu masters called the Furious five. I was knocked out and relocated to a dungeon underneath a building called the Jade palace where my fate was decided. Luckily I was offered the chance to train for sticking up for a panda named Po which I accepted. From there, I soon learned that the entire population of the village, maybe the whole world, consisted of nothing but animals that could walk, talk, do everything a normal human being could do. And to make matters even more surprising, I was now in China. Bloody China!

From there, things started out hard, as I had to train nearly everyday, ending up in pain most days, Fighting bandits and receiving a black eye from an angry tiger, Long story. But as life went on, things begun to improve. I became a better fighter and the residents begun to treat me as a hero, and I'm dating another snake. A warrior from the Furious five named Viper. I had difficulties dealing with going out with a snake at first as every fiber in my body rejected the idea but after some persuasion, I was convinced that it wasn't as bad as it seemed and went out with her. Matter of fact, she's the reason I've made it so far from day one. I remember how I hoped that things would stay this way forever. Unfortunately, nothing always goes the way you want it to. As everything was finally heading my way, things took another unexpected twist and I ended up nearly losing everything. And to think it all started because of Po playing Ba quo.

Let me back track a little. Mantis, one of the warriors of the furious five, was meant to be keeping an eye on Po, the dragon warrior. Unfortunately he decided that relaxing and sitting back doing nothing was a much better idea. Quickly, we all explained the situation to Master Shifu who led us up to the Hall of Heroes. This is where everything took a wrong turn, where I found myself thrown back into time and into a time before Po, Shifu, or the furious five had met me.

...

YESTERDAY AFTERNOON...

"...three, two, ONE"!

Before reaching the top of the stairs, I heard a yell, followed by another shatter, along with multiple groans and an apology from Po. Shifu's ear twitched. I could imagine that he had just broken something valuable.

"DO OVER"!

Okay, perhaps we should go in now.

Sure enough, Shifu opened the door and we all walked in to see Po with his back to us. He had a large hand held stick in both his hands and the wok resting on his head. He also seemed to have a wooden ball on the floor. I also saw a fancy white and yellow pot now in a million pieces resting on the floor, there seemed to be some sort of green mist floating around it as well. I don't know what it was but it seemed harmless enough. Po began to swing the stick again.

"Three, two one"...

"Panda"! Shifu snapped, causing Po to fall off balance.

As he did, he managed to still swing the stick and hit the ball with a lot more force than he meant to. The ball bounced aggresivley off of a pillar and heading straight for Shifu's face. However, Shifu caught the ball as it was but inches to his face, not even flinching or blinking as he grasped it. I had to admit, that was kind of awesome despite it nearly putting a hole through his head.

"Are you playing Ba quo in the Jade Palace"? Shifu began, as Po somewhat twiddled his thumbs, acting like a child who had been caught by his mother stealing cookies. "You know we have rules against such things"!

"But, Master Shifu, I uh"... Po began, taking the wok off of his head.

"Yes"?

However instead of getting an answer, the only response Shifu got was a whistle. All of us exchanged glances at each other, unsure what the panda was trying to do. Shifu somewhat got the message a little clearer than the rest of us as he pointed at himself, causing Po to whistle slightly louder and was signalling for him to come over with his hand.

Slowly but surely, Shifu walked over to Po. Once close enough, Po began speaking a little quieter as though making sure the rest of us couldn't hear him. Little did he know that we could still make out what he was saying.

"look I...I didn't want to say anything in front of them or the newbie"...

Newbie was me, in case you were wondering. I'm still technically a student here at the Jade palace and I doubted I would receive a rank of master any time soon so I decided not to argue.

"But the dragon warrior, chosen by the universe"...

"Yes"? Shifu asked, keeping his voice at the same tone as earlier. Po then began to swing round with his back to us as he put one of his pudgy arms on Shifu.

"Well it's just that, considering my position, not all of the rules should apply to me".

His response, Shifu whistled for Po to lean in closer to him. Po seemed calm about it as he followed the instruction, at least until pulled on one of his ears causing him to whine in pain. Shifu then spoke up, making sure that all of us could hear what he was about to say.

"The rules are for everybody panda. Even someone as special as you". Shifu then let go, causing Po to stumble back. Everyone seemed to laugh softly at the scene but none harder than me and Monkey, in which the both of us were rewarded with either a pull on the ear or fang, which was enough to shut me up. With all that was said and done, we all left the Hall of Heroes to let Po clean up.

"Uh, okay then. We'll agree to disagree! You say tomato"...

"And so does everyone else! Clean up this mess and meet us in the training hall"!

The doors closed behind us, leaving Po on his own to clean. All of us made our way down to the training hall, apart from Shifu who travelled at his own pace, giving us the chance to talk.

"You know, that all could have been avoided if you'd have just stopped Po from messing around Mantis". I explained, ignoring the small pain now coming from my right fang.

"Aw come on, how was I supposed to know he was going to try it in the Hall of Heroes"? Mantis argued back.

"Mantis, this is Po we're talking about"! Crane continued.

"...Fair enough".

"I'm just surprised Shifu didn't give him a worse punishment for wrecking that yellow and white pot". I wondered, remembering its fate.

"Oh please, there's not a month that goes by without Po smashing it to pieces". Monkey laughed. I just shook my head, not wanting to go in any further with the explanation.

After a few minutes had passed, everyone was back inside the training hall. Luckily I had forgotten to take my shiruken stars back from earlier so after receiving a small scolding from Master Shifu, I got back to work on practicing with the dummy. Zhen had entered with us as he had been instructed to clean the front doors. His voice quickly filled the air as he begun singing an unknown love song. Unfortunately for him. His song had ended as quickly as it had begun as Po burst through the door, knocking the goose off of his ladder.

"MASTER SHIFU"! Po yelled, catching Zhen by accident as he fell. Everyone stopped what they were doing as we all turned to hear what he had to say. Was it me, or had he cleaned up the Hall of Heroes a little quickly? There was no way he had done it already.

"Yes"?

"Uhhh"... Po began but seemed unable to finish his sentence. Almost like he had forgotten what it was he wanted to say. "Nothing. Just... just wanted to say you're... all doing... a bang up job. Really good stuff. Keep it up". And with that, he left.

"Umm... What was that all about"? I asked, hoping I wasn't the only one who was lost.

"I have no idea". Crane answered.

The rest of the training session went by slowly. Shifu had ordered me to find Po and bring him back to the Hall of Heroes. There was an important matter that needed to be discussed between all of us. Probably something to do with that gorilla warlord, Fennu again. At once, I followed my orders and looked left and right for Po. I found him in the barracks kitchen, no surprise, chewing on a huge bowl of dumplings.

"Hey Po. Shifu's calling for us to get up to the training hall". I called from the doorway, making Po nearly lose his balance on the chair he was sitting on.

"Oh, uh... sure thing. Lemme just uh"... I watched Po take a seed out of an old brown bag and raised it high in the air.

"What are you doing"? I asked with a lack of interest, pretty sure that this was another wierd Po thing. However before an answer could be given, the ground suddenly shook rapidly for a couple of seconds, causing Po to fall off of his chair.

Was that an earthquake? Shit, I hope everybody's okay.

"Come on, we need to check on everyone else". I spoke quickly, guiding Po back onto his feet and heading towards the Hall of Heroes. By the time we had made it up the stairs, the two front doors had been kicked in, nearly taking it off of it's hinges like something powerful had forced its way inside.

The pair of us entered through the entrance at once, almost getting crushed by a falling pillar. From there, hovering in the middle of the room was an owl. And I don't mean the small cute ones you may find flying around in your back garden during the middle of the night because this one was nothing like that at all! This owl had purple feathers and was the same size as a full grown man. It wore a tunic with a similar but darker purple shading compared to its feathers. I watched as Viper tried to attack it, but instead, the thing swatted her away with ease.

"Fenghuang? Here to get your butt handed to you again"? Po mocked the owl now known as Fenghuang. Before I could ask away on who she was, Mantis interuptted.

"That's kind of a funky expression when you think about it". He said, not paying attention to the flying tiger smashing into him and then into a pillar.

"Um, Po, who's your friend here"? I asked a little worried after seeing how strong she was. After delivering a strong kick to Crane, the owl landed in front of us.

"Your days of constantly defeating, then mocking me, are over". It spoke revealing it's old harsh sounding voice.

"Are you sure because I'm getting pretty good at it"!

"Well, the mocking part anyway. I've still to see him take down anyone other than himself". I joked seeing how I have never seen Po fight anybody on his own. This earned me a glare from Po himself, in which the only response I could give was a shrug while Fenghuang raised a chuckle.

"The last time we met, I knew seven impossible moves".

"The hell's an impossible move"? I asked, expecting to be looked down on for not knowing.

"It's a move that's impossible".

...Really Po?

"Yeah... I managed to figure that part out for myself oddly enough". I snapped, shooting an angry glare at Po, unsure whether he was just messing around with me or if he was actually being serious.

"... May I continue"? Fenghuang asked, rather annoyed for being interrupted.

"Sorry. Go ahead".

"As I was saying, I've now mastered twelve impossible moves". Her smile returned as she dodged several attacks from Monkey before taking to the air once more.

"Impossible"! Monkey called after her.

"Exactly"!

In an instant, Fenghuang flipped in the air and spun her wings round, which somehow covered her limbs in some sort of blue energy and gathered it into a large orb before shooting it straight into her previous attacker, Monkey. As the strange light hit him, it caused the primate to be in great pain, hell, I could see bloody smoke rising from his fur! Jesus!

The owl just landed in front of him, facing us. I was certain a look of horror and terror was plastered on my face.

"Holy shit". I spoke without even realizing it.

"I'm going to make you feel the pain you caused me. And then, I'm gonna put you out of my misery". Fenghuang smiled wickedly and looked to me. "And maybe get a new snake skin to put on my wall. Could use something to liven up the place". She examined the tips of her sharp feathers, probably thinking of slicing the skin off of me while I was still alive.

"Like hell that's gonna happen lady"! I yelled before attacking.

"Mike, WAIT"!

Too late, I was ready to take this bitch down without hesitation! What I hadn't counted on was for her to use one of those impossible move dealies on me! She whirled round and round and unleashed some sort of green fire at me. The move hit the floor in front of me and nearly sent me into Po if he hadn't moved in time.

God damn it, it didn't half bloody hurt! And the thing hadn't even hit me, it just sent me backwards! I forced myself to coil up in a vain attempt to cure the intense pain now aching behind my ribs.

"Okay Fenghuang, maybe you're like a little more awesome than before. But that still doesn't make you a match for us"!

I looked in Po's direction to see everybody else close together ready to attack. Monkey was already back on his feet so I guess, that hopefully, this pain would vanish or at least loosen up.

Fenghuang attacked again, swooping down from the sky, trying to attempt more impossible moves. Thankfully everyone dodged it. However when I checked on Po, he had somehow managed to get himself stuck under a collapsed pillar. How he managed that, I didn't know but he hadn't done it on purpose as I saw my friend struggle to get out.

One by one, I watched each member of the furious five fall from Fenghuangs impossible moves. As Viper had been swatted away, the pain in my stomach vanished and I was ready to fight again. So I did just that. And ended up in the same state I had been two minutes ago with just as much pain as the first time round. I really need to work on my stealth if I survive this.

I could only see as Po barely pushed off the pillar and began to speak.

"Hang on, you said five new moves. Spears of fire, spinny fast thing, the one where you slam on the ground and the clappy wings deal. What's number five"?

Po, what the hell are you doing? Now's not a good time to ask... wait, what's Shifu doing?

Sure enough, Shifu was on top of one of the towers just above the owl.

He's distracting her? Never knew Po was clever enough to stall. Guess this day is full of surprises.

After waiting long enough, Shifu launched himself from the top of the pillar. Sadly Fenghuang was quicker and intercepted his attack. The both of them fought each other while I struggled to rise. Having two impossible moves performed on you sure took a lot out of you.

Fenghuang got the upper hand and begun to slam Shifu into Po, then the ceiling, and then... she just smashed him as hard as she could into the ground coldly. That looked extremely painful. I could only watch as Po leaned over master Shifu as... as his eyes closed? No. Nononono please don't tell me he's...

I couldn't finish the sentence even in my head as I prayed that it wasn't what it seemed.

"SHIFU"! Po yelled, as to hope he would hear him. Nothing. There wasn't even time to grieve as Fenghuang kept up her attacks, forcing Po to get away as before another beam of blue light passed just where he was standing. From there, a bag of seeds landed in front of me.

"The hell? Isn't this the same bag Po had in the barracks I moaned to myself, pulling out five of the seeds, wondering why Po still had these on his person. Fenghuang then landed near Po who was right behind me.

"You- wait. You had a Shuyong seed"?

Hold on, what? Had a shuyong seed? First off, what does she mean by HAD a seed? Second, is that what I'm holding a bunch of with my tail right now? And third, why is she even fussing over these things to begin with? I mean, they don't look very threatening. Whatever the reason, Po panicked and grabbed the bag behind him before I had the chance to put them back.

"How do you- I'm supposed to be the only one who knows what's going on"!

"Am I missing something here"? I asked confused. My question went ignored as the owl pulled off a different move. This time, some kind of energy ring surrounded her. She fired it straight at the panda, which he dodged instantly. The ring zoomed over my head and back as it was somehow tracking Po. The next thing I knew, Po jumped from pillar to pillar and bounced high enough to grab one of the elderly owl's talons, pulling her down in time as the ring smashed back into her with enough force to send her smashing into the back wall and rendering her unconscious. It was finally over.

Everyone had managed to recover well enough. Well, almost all of us...

Shifu was still lying there on the ground. I slithered over to his... corpse and could only look at him, feeling empty inside. Most of the others joined me. I could swear that each and everyone of them had tears in their eyes. Including me.

"Don't worry guys. I can still save him". Po spoke out, gaining my attention. He had another seed held up into the air like he was about to throw it down hard. What he didn't know was that Fenghuang had already gained consciousness and stole it from him before flying out laughing. I didn't say or do anything about it. I couldn't. All I could do was watch as Po yelled before he took another seed out and threw it onto the ground and-

W-where did he go? He's gone! He just somehow vanished!

"Damn it all, this is too much". I whispered, although it didn't go unnoticed.

"I know. After everything that we've been through, this is the worst".

I turned round and saw Viper. She had tears leaking from her eyes, making the scene for me that much more heartbreaking. I forgot about Po for a moment.

"Viper, I'm- I'm sorry that"-

Before I even finished what I was about to say, Viper had already embraced me and cried, needing a shoulder to do so on, or as close a shoulder you could get with a python. I returned the hug and just waited for it to end.

Only a few minutes had passed and I was now worse off than Viper. I could swear that my eyes were just as red as her were becoming. Longer still, the hug finally broke and I waited for her to move back over before taking another look at the seeds that I still held and throwing them away. I moved over to the rest of the furious five until...

*WOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIII*

A light flashed before me suddenly blinding me and forcing me to shut my eyes. I felt as though a flashbang had just gone off in front of me. I even yelped in surprise before the light quickly died down. When I took another look, the training hall was... completely fine. Everything seemed to be the way it was before Fenghuang attacked.

"What the hell"?

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE"?

I spun round to face the doors to see a rather angry Shifu.

...

I guess that's the first chapter up for the new story. For those who are new to my writing, I'd recommend reading my first story, legend of the kung fu python, to help bring you all up to speed.

As for everyone else, this will have little to do with the actual story itself. Just a little something I wanted to write for the fun of it ^^ I hope you enjoy. Cheerio!


	2. A familiar face

"I won't ask again! Who are you and what are you doing here"?

All I could do at the moment was just look back at the rather pissed off red panda. What was going on? How is he still alive? And more importantly, why the heck is he so furious at me? Even so with these questions buzzing around in my head, I found my voice and spoke before Shifu decided to get even madder, if that was even possible right now.

"I'm Mike. Kung fu student"? I answered hoping it would ring a bell. Instead, Shifu's expression remained the same.

"You? You're a Kung fu student"? He asked as though he didn't believe me. I couldn't help but feel a little offended.

"Yes. You've been training me here for a little over a month now".

"Excuse me"?

I paused for a second. Did he seriously not remember who I was?

"Do you take me for a fool"? Shifu snapped, making me panic.

"No! I"-

"Because I would remember if I had trained a python, especially one who seems to be somewhat thick and upon that, crazy"!

Okay, ouch.

"I demand that you leave at once or else I will be forced to"-

Luckily at that point, the doors behind Shifu opened before he could finish his threat. I looked from Shifu to see who was entering... No. No way! Oogway!? The heck was going on, had I somehow died and gone to heaven? Even so, it wouldn't explain why Shifu was so pissed.

"Master Oogway"! Shifu spoke quickly, caught by surprise and quickly bowed forming a fist with one of his tiny hands and slamming it into his other hand which remained open.

"A pleasure to see you my old friend". Oogway turned from Shifu and walked in front of me.

"I see you have company with you". He smiled. I didn't want to be disrespectful so I gave my own bow.

"Master Oogway. It is an honor to meet you". I spoke clearly, doubting that he actually knew me either.

"Master Oogway, that python is an intruder. He broke into the palace". Wait, WHAT? I did no such thing! Before I had the chance to speak, I saw Oogway's smile turn quickly to a frown as though disappointed with me.

"And why have you chosen to do so"? He asked, never raising his voice like Shifu has done the entire time, though it still made me feel that much worse.

"Master Oogway, I swear I did not break in. All I know was after fighting with a dangerous villain I threw some seeds away, an"- I stopped myself.

How had I not realized it before? Those seeds, they must have done something! But what?

"There doesn't happen to be any kinds of seeds that carry mystical powers are there"? I felt so stupid for asking that question.

"That's ridiculous! No seed has the ability to"-

"Well... there is one". Oogway interrupted Shifu. I was hoping that he would explain what he meant by that, but instead, he said nothing else about it. The only thing I could mark as a response was when he licked his lips to keep them from drying. A few seconds passed, and I was starting to feel awkward. Was Oogway planning on continuing or... just keeping quiet?

"If what you have said is true then you may very well be a student here, or at least, you will become one". Oogway told me, smiling once again.

Become one? I don't get it.

"Master Oogway. With respect, I doubt"-

"Then it is settled". Oogway continued as though he hadn't heard Shifu and put one of his scaly long clawed hands on my back. "Our young friend here will be allowed to train here until he proves otherwise". I couldn't help but smile. This is now the second time Oogway has helped me out now. I couldn't help but feel a little grateful at least.

"Thank you Master Oogway. I won't let you down". I bowed.

I turned to Shifu to see a look of both shock and anger on his face as both an eye and an ear twitched meaning he wasn't happy. I mean, he wasn't before so I guess you can only imagine what's racing through his mind right now. And to think that this was just Shifu. What was meeting the furious five going to be like? First time we met, I only managed to get on their good side because I helped Po out. What was it going to be like this time round?

An hour passed. Shifu did not become any happier over the situation. Oogway had already requested that I should meet the other students here as to catch up... kind of. Shifu, while agreeing to let me stay, led me to the training hall with a face that looked as though he had taken a bite out of a lemon. If it wasn't for his white fur that covered his face, I bet he would have been red with anger. Along the way, he didn't speak a word. Now that I suddenly think about it, Shifu seems to be... a bit of a jerk. More than usual.

Once inside the training hall, I saw that it was empty. None of the furious five or Po seemed to be around.

"Where's everybody else"? I asked.

"They will be along momentarily. I thought you would prefer to warm up first seeing how I doubt you are any more experienced than my students. And in the future, you shall address me as MASTER"! He spoke strictly.

"Sorry master". I bowed.

"Feel free to begin".

And I did just that. I knew that Shifu was testing me to see how good I was so I quickly jumped onto the spinning logs in front of me as they moved, keeping my balance for a while-

*Whoosh*

A spiked club on a chain just flew passed in front of my face by inches! The hell was that? Was that meant to be part of the training course? Why have I never seen those before, why have I never been informed of them!?

My thoughts were quickly interrupted as several more of the things flew in front and behind of me in every single direction.

In my mind I was thinking over and over again "Shitshitshit"! because I've never actually dealt with this obstacle before, and I mean the spinning logs, not just the spiked clubs. Quickly I hopped onto the Jade tortiose from the spinning logs and was able to keep my balance and using the speed of my momentum to throw myself up into the air, spinning a couple of times before slithering through one of the rings above and landed perfectly. I turned back, ready to hear how well I did. That was one of the best performances I've given so I shou-

"That was a poor excuse for a performance"!

Ah okay well, never mind...

"Did I do something wrong... Master"?

"You could have lasted longer on the serpent logs, you only jumped through one ring, your agility could be better, you didn't even attempt the pit of fire and you failed to impress me".

Aw come on. Really? I mean, yeah I'm not a master so it wasn't like I could do fifty back flips in the air or whatever. But still, I worked really hard to get where I was. I wanted to argue back but I knew better than to go against Master Shifu. I'd probably end up being tied in a knot or worse.

The instant I had slithered all the way back to Shifu, the training hall doors opened up revealing all members of the furious five. Where was Po? He usually follows behind everyone else but he was nowhere to be seen. Probably slept in again.

"Afternoon Master Shifu". They all greeted after lining up. Once they had bowed, they all took a second to look at me. It was a little uncomfortable as they looked as though they didn't know me either. Now this is just the thought at the top of my mind, but I'm starting to believe that I might have gone back in time. I mean, it makes sense seeing how no one knows me and that Oogway is still alive. But... that would be impossible, even for this world. Right?

"Everyone, this is our new student. He shall be training with us for the time being". Shifu spoke with lack of enthusiasm as though he wished I wasn't here, even though that's probably what he was actually thinking this very second. I took the moment to see the expressions of each warrior in front of me.

Mantis seemed uninterested, Viper just stared with a curious expression, Crane ruffled his wings nervously, Monkey raised an eyebrow and Tigress, she just scowled, not wanting me to be here at all. I would need to keep my distance from her. Overall, they all seemed to be nervous or just downright hateful towards me. Fantastic. They certainly have no idea who I am. Better keep that to myself unless I want them to think I'm insane as well.

"Crane, show our guest to his room. Everyone else, begin your training at once"!

Everybody bowed once more before they "attacked" the obstacle course, leaving me with the avian.

"If you would like to follow me". He spoke as he began to walk outside. I made sure to follow close behind as though I actually didn't know where I was going.

"So, a new student huh? Nice to have another face around here. I'm Crane by the way".

"Yeah, I know".

"You know"?

Oh crud, I forgot. He doesn't know me.

"Yeah... Shifu told me". I quickly lied. Lucky for me Crane bought it and didn't bother to ask questions. Just as well, I would need to be much more careful. We reached the barracks quickly and Crane led me to my old bedroom, the one that was opposite Po. However...

"Sorry about the mess, we mostly just use this room for supplies".

In said room was a bed laid out in the middle. But there also happened to be a mop and bucket, several rags, a couple of broken shelves and a small jar filled with some kind of green liquid.

"... Alright, fine". I agreed with a tired expression.

"Oh okay I'll ju- wait what did you say"? Asked Crane in disbelief, predicting that I would have demanded a better room.

"I said this'll do just fine". I repeated.

"But... you aren't just a little upset with the room conditions? I know I would be if I had to sleep here".

"Trust me, after a day like today, this is probably going to be the best I can get so I'm not going to pass it up".

"Okay. If you're sure"...

There wasn't really any need for me to check out my new slash old room, so I decided to return back to the training hall. I doubted Shifu would let me have any time to myself, which brought up a new point.

"Hey Crane, can I ask you something"?

"What about"?

"Shifu. I mean, is he always so charming when it comes to demanding his students"?

This got Crane to laugh.

"Don't worry about Master Shifu. He's always been like that".

He has? Really? I guess my theory of going back in time is becoming more and more likely with every passing minute.

I didn't bother to say another word until I was back in the training hall where everybody was training harder than I've ever seen them. Myself and Crane were about to enter the arena until Shifu put his hand in front of me to keep me from moving forward.

"Perhaps you should spend some time meditating python". He suggested. "Until the proper masters are finished at least".

I scowled at the comment and left for the barracks again.

Oh this is great, just great. How very nice of the red panda to add insult to injury! Still, I kept myself from yelling that to the sky and thought that now was a good time to grab something to eat. Forget meditating for now, I haven't had the chance to eat all day as my rumbling stomach reminded me. What's one dumpling matter?

"Aren't you supposed to be meditating"?

I instantly froze upon searching one of the cupboards and found Viper raising an eyebrow at me, clearly not impressed.

"Aren't you supposed to be training"? I replied mockingly before slithering past her. I doubt that she and I are together anymore seeing how she doesn't know who I am, so I might as well just forget it. Forget her, the five and Shifu all together.

"There's no need to be rude about it". She scoffed. I didn't bother to reply, which was a bad move on my part.

"Excuse me, I'm talking to you"! She spoke again, clearly more annoyed. I kept ignoring her and was about to enter my room until she decided to go ahead and shut the door in front of me with her tail. Nice to know she's just as persistent as before.

I slowly rolled my eyes in her direction to find her quite angry.

"...Why are you even here"? I asked, though it came out as harsh as I had wanted it to.

"Shifu asked me to keep an eye on you, to see if you would be following his instructions".

"Well excuse me if I decided to grab a bite to eat first, hall monitor".

Again I tried to open the door but Viper kept her grip on the handle. Now I was starting to get pissed off.

"What do you want now"?

"I **had** come to introduce myself until you acted out".

"You already know who I am and I know that you're called Viper, what else is there to it? Now can you just... please leave me alone"?

I was surprised to see Viper comply and take her tail off of the door, letting me enter. Before closing the door behind me, I saw her give me another look. Not one of anger but more one of pity? It didn't occur to me how much I had acted like a jerk until I closed the door. Go me. Way to make a great first impression...


	3. Proving yourself

*DONG*

The morning bell outside of the Valley of Peace sounded. I woke up at once and greeted Shifu.

"Good morning master Shifu". I spoke in unison with everyone else. Though instead of leaving the barracks, as he usually would once we had greeted him, I was dumbstruck to see him give me a nod of approval but that was all he did. I guess he didn't expect me to wake up so early along with the rest of the kung fu students so at least it got me to smile. At least until Shifu turned round to leave as I had the horrid feeling I would receive five lashes just for expressing any positive emotion.

I watched as everybody entered the kitchen to eat. I wasn't sure if I could or even wanted to go in there. Technically they were not my real friends, and none of them, with the exception of Crane, seemed all too nice. I'd better get to the training hall. Let them eat in peace. Besides, I would prefer to show Shifu what I'm made of, show that I'm kung fu material. I had no doubt that he was already there, meditating.

"Uh, aren't you going to eat something for breakfast"? Asked Mantis behind me. I looked to see that everybody was looking at me with confusion. Tigress just glared at me a little longer before going back to her plate of tofu cubes which pushed me to leave the barracks that much quicker.

"No thanks". I gave my short reply before leaving.

I could tell that none of them were going to get along with me. Best to stay out of their way for as long as I could. I'm sure they would appreciate that just as much as myself.

Inside the training hall, I found Shifu talking to Oogway over on the far side of the training hall. Only when I had reached the bottom of the stairs to the catwalk did they choose to take notice of me. Doing the most sensible thing, I waited until they were finished talking. Once they had, Shifu walked from the opposite end to my end.

"Master Oogway wishes to speak with you". The red panda left and I slithered over to where Oogway stood. I was greeted with a smile.

"I hear you have already shown signs towards being a true warrior of kung fu"? He asked right away. I imagined he was reffering to me waking up early in the morning. Not everyone can find the strength to wake up and jump out of bed so early just like that. I learnt that the hard way.

"Yes Master Oogway".

"There is no need to be formal my friend. Feel free to call me Oogway". He spoke softly.

"Yes mas- I mean, Oogway. Though I think that everybody else feels different".

I took a bit of an impact myself just saying those words. To think yesterday morning I had been training with the people I used to call friends, only for them to not even know who I am today. My saddened thoughts disappeared as I felt Oogways long claws pat my head.

"Then show them reason that they are wrong. Remember Mike, that often in life, one soul must not wait for the things he finds most precious to come to him or he shall end up with nothing. But to go out and discover them for yourself, you will be rewarded with what your heart desires... and more".

The tortoise lifted his hand from my head, allowing me to look up. His words filled me with inspiration.

"Thank you Oogway. I think I understand what you mean".

With that being all, I turned to leave. But still, I had a question to ask that only Oogway knew the answer to.

"Oogway, would it be possible to answer a question for me"?

"I would be glad to. Though I must insist that it only be one question".

"Very well, why only one question"? I asked, hoping that that question wouldn't have counted for the original question I wanted to ask.

"I believe that one must go out into the world and seek the answers they are looking for. If you continue to ask others for answers, you never truly learn anything for yourself".

That was actually a very good point. Anyway, before I forget...

"Yesterday, you seemed to know something about those seeds. I was wondering what they were and what they do"?

Oogway smiled and answered.

"The seeds you described are called the Shu Yong. They have the ability to allow one to change the rules of history".

"So like time travel". I wondered, putting my theory to the test.

"Yes and no. While you can go back in time, you can not return back to the future".

"...I... I see". I spoke, feeling upset about the fact that I am now probably stuck here forever.

"I understand this is a difficult thing to take in". Oogway spoke, drawing my attention once more. "But know that even in the darkest of places, there will often be light to help guide you".

I took a moment to work out what Oogway meant by that. Eventually, it clicked.

"So there may be a way to return home. Maybe".

"Indeed there may be".

"Thank you Oogway".

"Anytime my friend".

I turned to leave.

"And one last thing Mike"?

I stopped and waited to hear what Oogway still had to say.

"Please be sure to keep this talk of the Shu Yong between us. Should anyone else learn of it, they too may come seeking answers".

"Understood Oogway". I bowed and left at once, unsure what now to do. My original plan was to go and train but after my little talk with master Oogway, I decided to just take a walk and clear my mind before figuring out my next step.

Eventually my short walk brought me by the stairs that led up to the peach tree. I couldn't help but before I could.

"You know you don't belong here don't you"?

The tone of the voice was enough to make me realize who was behind me. I turned round to see Tigress staring at me coldly with both her arms folded in front of her.

"You've no idea how right you are". Is what I wanted to say but I thought better of it. Instead, my response was.

"You'd be surprised how hard I've had to train to get where I am today". I slithered slightly closer in which the tiger let her arms fall to her sides. I offered a friendly smile.

"A pleasure to meet you"... I asked innocently as though I had no idea who she actually was. I watched as her eyes narrowed before answering.

"..Tigress".

"Well then, Tigress. I understand that you may not see much potential within me, but I would be happy to prove that I am worthy to train here if you would allow me the chance".

At this, Tigress seriously thought it over for a good thirty seconds before replying with the same hateful tone.

"If you are willing to prove it, you can join us in ambushing Shifu later on".

"Ambushing Shifu"? I asked, unsure what she meant.

"It's just a simple training exercise to determine whether we have what it takes to learn about the tactics of stealth and element of surprise". She spoke, a little annoyed that I did not know that already.

"Very well, when are we meant to pull it off"?

"Five minutes time".

Okay, a little earlier than I was expecting. Nevertheless, I masked my surprise and responded with a nod of approval.

"Make sure you're ready. Don't make a fool of yourself". She warned me before walking off. As did I, up to the peach tree to take a look at the valley below. It was still as beautiful a sight as remember. Unfortunately I didn't have as much time to admire it as I wanted to as something quickly occurred to me.

"...Shit. She didn't say WHERE we would be ambushing Shifu"!

4 MINUTES LATER

After rushing from one location to another, I found Shifu in time barely. He was in front of the training hall at the side of the courtyard to the left near some bushes, at least thirty feet away from where I was so at least I did not disturb him. He seemed to be playing on a flute, unaware of my presence. I knew that the others were already in position and were likely waiting on me. I quickly slithered up the nearest tree, moving carefully and slowly through the shaky branches and rustling leafs. It didn't take long until I was hanging off one of the thicker branches in a perfect pounce position. I waited until one of the others make their move first before attacking myself. Opposite me, I could see Viper slithering down a column and was giving me a look which said. "Don't mess up". I shook my head. That's the sort of thing I'd expect from Tigress. I just waited and waited... waited. Until at last, all of them attacked at once from all sides, including above. Shifu opened his eyes in alarm and fended off all five students at once. I joined in a few seconds late and did what I could at close combat without accidentally hitting any of my teammates, though Shifu blocked my attacks easily with little attempt like everyone else. Not one of us managed to get a single hit on the red panda. After a short battle, in which I had "accidentally" received a flute to the head from Shifu, all five students and myself surrounded Shifu in a hexagon and went from fighting stance to relaxed as Shifu spoke to "grade" our efforts.

"Excellent work students". The furious five bowed and I smiled, at least until Shifu continued. "If you were trying to disappoint me"! Damn, there's just no pleasing this guy at all is there?

I watched in silence as he went over everybody's flaws while pointing the flute at them as though it was a weapon, which I guess in a way it was after just using it against us.

"Tigress you need more ferocity! Monkey, greater speed! Crane, height! Viper, supplty, Mantis"-

"Master Shifu".

"WHAT"? Growled Shifu, turning to Zhen, startling him. But continued to speak with whatever he had interuptted Shifu for.

"It's master Oogway. He wants to see you".

Shifu calmed down instantly at mention of his masters name and turned to us.

"All of you, inside and continue your training at once. I shall be back momentarily". He commanded before sprinting out of the courtyard, leaving me with the others. I merely waited for one of them to say something. Turns out it was Monkey.

"That went well considering".

"Considering what"? I asked.

"That we failed. Again". Tigress continued, somewhat taking Shifu's criticism to heart.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he was just motivating you. I bet he was actually quite proud". I spoke, rubbing the pained mark that now sat on the top of my head.

"Um, have you actually met Shifu"? Mantis asked, hoping onto my head as we all made our way inside the training hall. "Because the day he's proud is the day Tigress starts being nice".

This got myself and monkey to give a small laugh.

"Okay, I guess when you put it that way"... I cut myself off with another small snort of laughter.

"Cut the chatter, we have training to do". Tigress snapped before trying her luck on the spinning logs. Everyone else joined in with different training devices, leaving me to train on... nothing, seeing how everybody seemed to be using all the major training devices, and I doubted that any of them would be letting me use any of the weapons off to the side.

"Hey Mike. Over here". Crane called over at the jade tortoise. I made my way over, ignoring the judgmental eyes I was getting from both Tigress and Viper. I have a lot of effort to put into making up for that misunderstanding from last night. Putting that aside, I found myself in front of the jade tortoise and looked up to Crane who gestured for me to climb on top. I did as told and balanced myself on top.

"Alright, so what are we doing here buddy"?

"Okay well, the Jade tortoise of wisdom is meant to help us learn to control our balance". As he spoke through his speech, I smirked. This was the exact same thing he had told me the first time he helped me out with this part of the training. Turned out he was also going to be using the same method as last time as well which was where the avian would fly off and back onto the rim of the tortoise making it rock back and forth. As he did just that, I found myself to be better prepared and managed to last at least a good few minutes until Crane stopped.

"Well done, that was very good". He complimented, making me give a rare smile.

"Thanks Crane. I appreciate it". All together, Crane seemed to be the only one out of everybody, other than Oogway, to consider me to be an actual friend. I left him to train on his own, after we had spent a few more minutes of testing each others balance, and moved on towards the fire pit, though I wanted to train over there for two reasons. One reason was to see if I was as good as last time, and by last time I mean to say that I nearly screamed like a little girl as the first jet of fire shot out of one of the nearby pipes. The second reason was because I wanted to at least apologize for well... being a bit of an asshole last night. It seemed I slithered over in time as Viper began to slither off of it. As she saw me approach, she frowned.

"Hello Viper". I began.

"Mike". She replied with no interest of speaking to me. This might be a little tougher than I thought.

"Listen. I wanted to apologize for my rude behavior last night. I should have shown you more respect". This seemed to get her attention, though she still seemed a little angry towards me. I continued.

"It's just been a difficult time for me lately. I'm sorry to have taken it out on you and... if it makes you feel any better, you're free to slap me". I said against my better judgement. I even closed my eyes, certain that she would be willing to take me up on my offer. After a few seconds of nothing, I opened one of my eyes to see Viper confused.

"Why would I want slap you across the face"?

Because you're going to do it four times in the future.

"I guess just to show how sorry I am... I suppose". I relaxed my body as I saw a Viper calm down.

"...Excuse me. I need to train elsewhere".

I let her slither past me, unsure whether she had accepted my apology or not. I suppose I've done what I could for now so I moved on to the now free fire pit and positioned myself in the middle. I didn't have to wait long as I felt the heat rise on my stomach. Before it got too hot, I twisted my body to the left just as a jet of fire shot out. So did another one a few seconds afterwards. Eventually, multiple jets of fire started shooting up at once, making it that much harder as my body was struggling to keep up. After I had passed the five minute marker I had counting in my head. Soon, I figured enough was enough and jumped off of the thing before I get burnt to a crisp.

"Can I give you some advice"?

I noticed that Viper had come back over to check on my progress.

"Yeah, sure".

"Sometimes it helps to bend around the fires instead of just dodging them. It gives you more flexibility and makes it easier to dodge the flames".

"Thanks. I'll be sure to keep that in mind".

A few moment of silence passed. None of us knew what to say next. At least not until Viper spoke at last.

"Listen, I appreciate that you apologized for, well"...

"Being a jerk"? I finished for her.

"More or less".

"It's alright. I just think we got our relationship off on the wrong foot. Allow me to introduce myself properly". I offered, sticking out my tail. "I'm Mike. Kung fu student".

Thankfully, I managed to, at last, get a smile. A small one but it was more than what I had expected.

"Pleasure to meet you Mike. My name is Viper. Kung fu master and, if you wish, training instructor". She spoke, making it sound as though she wanted a chance to prove herself to me almost as much as I to her.

"I'd be happy to accept your help".

Before she could get the chance to even respond, Shifu entered in a state of concern.

"Students! To me at once"! He demanded, tapping his stick on the floor twice making us all make our way from the training arena and into a line in front of our master.

"It seems that today shall be a historic day for kung fu"! He began, catching everybody's interest. "Today, Oogway shall be choosing one of you to become the Dragon warrior"!

This sentence alone was enough to break all masters, except for Tigress, from their composure as they whispered to each other in disbelief, at least until Shifu banged his stick loudly onto the ground one more time.

"I will be expecting you all to be ready within the hour. Return to your barracks and I shall and collect you when the time comes... And good luck to all of you"! Shifu turned to leave, pulling one of his hands back over his head and flattening one of his ears until he let go allowing it to pop back up. The second he had left. Everybody to talk again, only louder.

"Did you hear that"?

"One of us? Become the Dragon warrior"?

"Bout time too"!

"Good thing you arrived when you did. Eh"? I took a few seconds until I realized Monkey had just spoke to me.

"Oh, yeah. yeah, that's awesome guys"... I spoke more confused than ever. I thought Po was meant to become the Dragon warrior, so where is he? As far as I know, he may not even train here!

"We should get ready while we can". Tigress spoke up before leaving instantly. She seemed somewhat eager to prepare. If I were to guess, she was planning to be the one to become the dragon warrior. Boy, is she in for a surprise.

...

Another chapter down.

Just a quick note to say that chapters for this story will now be submitted weekly instead of daily. Sorry guys. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, because things are going to become much more interesting in the next one. Cheerio!


	4. The real dragon warrior

Everybody did as Shifu had instructed and headed to their rooms to wait. Wait until it was time for this... dragon warrior to be chosen. My suspicion grew. Had I somehow, just by arriving, managed to alter the course of the future? I mean, Po was meant to be the Dragon warrior but I saw no sign, no proof that he trained at the Jade palace.

For myself, the remaining hour passed by slowly as I imagined it would have also done for the furious five. What made it worse was the fact that it was deathly silent. Nobody exchanged a word, as though they had automatically shut down.

Finally, the entrance to the barracks door exploded open, starling me with its sudden sound. Wasting no time, I hurried out though the door to my room and greeted Shifu.

"It is time". Shifu spoke. "All of you will proceed to the lower courtyard at once".

We all bowed and headed outside in single file, I being the last one. At least until Shifu held me by the tail as I slithered past him.

"Not you python".

"Master"?

"You shall follow me. I'm afraid you will not be competing to be the Dragon warrior".

Many after being refused a chance to become the Dragon warrior I'm sure would have been disappointed at the least. I felt the opposite as a wave of relief washed over me. After all, I doubted I would have made a good dragon warrior.

"Understood master Shifu".

I did what Shifu had asked of me and I followed him down to the lower courtyard, just before the stairs down to the village. The scene before me was incredible. I could see literally hundreds of villagers surrounding a white lined arena, where miniature fireworks and firecrackers went off, cheering and talking filled the air and even several of those dragon costumes you would see during Chinese new year roamed the area. Clearly word had spread fast about the choosing of the dragon warrior.

I found myself being led to a stone raised platform that rested in the middle of the stairs that I was now travelling down. Shifu made sure that I was standing at the left side of it, looking over both the courtyard and the army of villagers.

"You shall be standing here during the tournament, as Oogway has asked of you. I trust that you accept his decision"?

"Yes master Shifu".

"Good. We will be starting in ten minutes".

During those ten minutes, Shifu had headed back up to the Jade Palace, presumably to find Oogway. I kept watch among the crowd to see if I could see Po or perhaps even his father, but I couldn't see either of them anywhere. The courtyard began to be swarmed with several different types of wooden contraptions. Some shaped like scorpions or even Oxen. As I turned behind me, I saw at least fourty ducks on both sides of the stairway wearing blue matching uniforms and hats. Were these servants of the Jade palace? I've never seen any of them before. Maybe it was a volunteer thing? I didn't know. To my right was a pig in a yellow robe, clutching a small gong.

At the end of the ten minutes, I finally saw both Oogway and Shifu approaching the platform. Even though the cheering of the villagers below me, I could still hear them talking as they stopped behind me.

"It is a historic day, isn't it master Oogway"?

"Yes. And one I feared I would not live to see".

I kept my head, faced towards the crowd, hoping they didn't know that I was listening in to the conversation.

"Are your students ready"? I heard Oogway continue.

"Yes master Oogway". Silence passed between the master and his student for a second.

"Now know this old friend. Who I choose will not only bring peace to the valley, but also to you".

I heard Oogway approach again until he was right in the middle, between me and the pig. Shifu seemed to remain silent for a few extra seconds as he walked over, a little distracted.

"Let the tournament... Begin"! The pig in yellow robes announced, ringing his gong causing the crowd to roar in excitement. The two large doors at the front entrance closed. This was going to be interesting to see how this folds out.

Several instruments began playing, from drums to even flutes, building suspension for the crowd until Shifu spoke up, loud enough so that every villager could hear what he had to say.

"Citizens of the valley of peace! It is my great honor to present to you... Tigress, Viper, Crane, Monkey, Mantis. The furious five"!

Right upon hearing the group's title, Everybody seemed to look up. I followed to see right above me that all five of them were over sixty feet in the air, speeding down to the planet below and landing without even a single fault of injury. I had to say that it was quite impressive. The crowd thought so to as they watched their favorite warriors show off, doing spins, balancing and getting into their kung fu stances. Crane seemed flapped his wings once, creating a gust of wind that washed over the entire crowd.

"Warriors, prepare"! Shifu commanded. All but Crane moved to the side as a large red yellow and green wooden serpent-like machine entered at the side with a pig standing on top of it holding a flaming torch. The mouth of the serpent slid down, revealing dozens of rockets lurking within its mouth. Instantly the pig lit them and Crane at once took to the air, dodging several of the things as they shot towards him at great speed. As he got higher, at least nine surrounded him, making it seem as though he was in trouble. The crowd held their breath. Then, just in the nick of time, Crane shot up higher into the air at tremendous speed causing the rockets to hit each other, causing one large explosion. The crowd went wild and I myself couldn't help but be a little amazed.

As the tournament continued, Viper went after crane, dodging arrows shot by the scorpion contraptions tail from earlier and disabling the weapon by crushing it with her body. Monkey dealt with a wooden bear with iron claws, taking it down with nothing but a bamboo staff. Mantis was the only one to deal with real life opponents, but that was because he mostly used non lethal pressure points. The worst case received was that one guy couldn't use his arm for an hour but nothing serious. Everybody have come and gone now apart from one.

"And finally, master Tigress"!

Tigress stood in the middle of the arena as now the wooden ox approached, armed with several axes.

"Believe me citizens, you have not seen anything yet. Master Tigress, facing iron ox, and his blades of death".

This seemed like Shifu had saved his best student for last. I had no doubt that he was hoping for Tigress to become the dragon warrior. Even with my excitement, my worry remained as Po was still nowhere in sight. My attention was quickly drawn as I saw Oogway close his eyes and raised his hand just before Tigress could rip the ox to pieces. The crowd had gone deathly silent. Shifu took notice of this at once.

"I sense the dragon warrior is among us".

This was it. The moment these people have waited so long for. The furious five lined up beside one another and Shifu spoke.

"Citizens of the Valley of Peace, Master Oogway will now choose the dragon warrior"!

I watched as Oogway began to descend slowly down the left side of the stairway, his eyes remaining closed and his clawed hand raised into the air. The drums began to start again. Oogway entered the arena in front of the five and made his way to the right. Towards Tigress.

"This is it". I thought in my head. Oogway was but feet away from Tigress now. No doubt now that she was going to be the chosen one.

But before Oogway could officially choose her, I heard some sort of commotion outside, followed by large explosions as multicolored flames leapt over the wall until.

*BANG* Something had just launched into the air at a hundred miles an hour!

"The hell"? I asked to no one in particular as multiple fireworks of different color went off, making the crowd go "Ooh" and "Aah", not realizing that this wasn't a part of the performance. Then after long enough, something began to fall from the sky. Something... black and white? I then put two and two together.

"Oh crap".

I could only watch as the figure, who I was certain was a familiar black and white panda I know too well, slam straight into the ground. Over all the moaning he made, I was surprised that he had even survived a fall like that. No doubt that he was responsible for all those fireworks going off. I looked back to Oogway... guess who he was pointing at.

"Oh! Sorry... I just wanted to see who the Dragon warrior was". He apologized fearfully as he pushed himself from the ground to all fours, and then back onto his two feet.

"How interesting". Oogway spoke barely, his claw still raised at Po.

"Master, are- are you pointing at me"? Tigress asked stepping forward, her face somewhat carrying a hint of surprise.

"Him".

"Who"?

Po shifted right and left. Oogways claw followed. I could see the confused and disturbed looks spread out between the furious five. As for Tigress... she was less than pleased as I saw an angry scowl cross her face.

"You". Oogway answered Po's question.

"Me"? Po asked once more.

"The Universe has brought us, the dragon warrior"! Oogway announced, lifting one of Po's chubby arms up with his stick. This started off a chain reaction of uttering one word. Starting with Po and ending with who I assumed was Mr. Ping at the doors entrance.

"What"?

"What"?!

"WHAT"?!

"WHAT"?!

"Damn". I finished in both surprise and humor. I mean, yes. I already knew that Po was going to be dragon warrior. But seriously, THAT. Was how he was chosen? That... actually explains an awful lot.

The pig sounded the gong just in time as Shifu snatched the stick away from him and held it above his head, nearly threatening to hit the poor guy for doing his job.

Everybody went wild with joy. Confetti rained down from above and I could see more fireworks go off. Several ducks, carrying a chair rushed straight past me, despite Shifu ordering them to stop, they did not seem to listen. I watch as Po was forced onto the chair and, sort of, carried a few feet. Seemed like the poor ducks had their work cut out for them as I noticed their pained expressions as they were using all their strength just to keep Po in the air.

I saw Shifu had already made his way to Oogway, trying to convince him how this was all a mistake. I couldn't properly hear what it was they were saying due to the mood of the screaming crowd. Suddenly, a large snap caught my attention. Po's heavy form had broken the chair and his lower half could be seen from underneath the chair, even touching the ground, making me laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.

Several pigs had to come to help the ducks out, lifting Po with some ease. I just watched the entire time as Po was, very slowly, taken up to the Jade palace.

"...".

I didn't even know what to say. I was baffled. Looking back, the furious five seemed the same way. It didn't seem as though I was needed here any longer so I rushed upstairs to find Po, just in case he breaks anything inside the hall of heroes.

I climbed up the stairs up to the entrance, passing just as many villagers and servants as there were back down in the courtyard, catching up with Po in time as the pigs quickly, and rather harshly, tipped the chair so that Po fell out onto his stomach. I slithered in just as two ducks began to shut the doors, slipping through just before it closed, leaving me alone with the panda who turned back to the door with a weak grin and chuckling nervously.

"I think there's been a slight mistake"... He spoke silently. "uhh... everyone seems to think that I'm the"...

Po trailed off as he realized where he was. Guess now was a good time to make an introduction.

"A pleasure to meet you... uh... dragon warrior"... I began with a hint of uncertainty. "My name is Mike. Welcome to the Hall of Heroes".

Upon this, Po gave a high pitched squeal as he examined the room. Walking forward as he quickly spotted the first artifact on his right which happened to be a suit of armor with the helmet shaped like it was meant for a rhino.

"Master flying rhino's armor". Po gasped.

"Glad you like it"-

"WITH AUTHENTIC BATTLE DAMAGE"! He suddenly cried out.

"... Pardon"? I asked with confusion, causing the panda to blush.

"Sorry, just... action figures"... He muttered, putting a hand behind his head out of embarrasment. However, he quickly forgot about it after eyeing another artifact, a sword this time.

"The sword of heroes! Said to be so sharp you can cut yourself by look"-

"OW, SHIT"! I suddenly yelled, feeling a sudden stinging sensation against the tip of my tail. I raised it up to my face and saw a small cut no bigger than a paper cut. I then glared at Po, who chuckled nervously.

"Sorry".

"It's okay, dragon warrior. I apologize for my choice of words". I spoke, knowing that I would need to pay respect to him.

"Ah please, call me Po". He replied with a flick of his wrist. I which I responded with a smile and allowed him to explore the rest of the room. Though instead of explaining what they were, his words were replaced by giddy gasps and awes. At least until he saw one artifact that stood out among all the rest... wait, isn't that the same pot that Po broke playing Ba quo?

I just watched Po run over to it as I calmly slithered up behind him.

"The legendary urn of whisper warriors, said to contain the entire souls of the Tenshu army".

I watched as Po carefully, and nervously spoke in a hushed tone.

"Hello"?

"Have you finished sight seeing"? I turned to see Shifu standing in front of the reflecting pool with an annoyed expression. I gave a bow of respect to acknowledge him, however...

"Sorry, I should have come to see you first". ... Oh dear.

I turned to see Po still looking at the urn, thinking that it was what had just spoken instead of Shifu.

"Um... Po"?

"Yeah, one sec".

I turned back to Shifu who was getting angrier by the second. Come on Po, please turn round.

"My patience is wearing thin".

"Oh. Well... I mean. It's not like you were going anywhere".

"Do turn around".

Po did as he was instructed, seeing Shifu at last.

"Hey, how's it going"? He greeted before turning back to the urn. I did all that I could to keep myself from face palming with my tail.

"How do you get five- MASTER SHIFU"! Po finally realized his mistake, but instantly making another one as he accidentally knocked the urn over onto the ground, breaking it and releasing several moans.

"Well, he's dead". I thought in my mind. And I didn't mean the urn, I meant Po. Surely Shifu was going to raise all of hell against him now. I was actually surprised to see him stuck with his same annoyed expression, not even moving as though he was a statue.

"Someone... broke that". Po tried covering up. Seriously? He just saw you break it for God's sake!

"But I'm gonna fix it... I'll- I'll- Do you have some... glue"... He trailed off as He got on his knees and gathered the broken pieces of the urn together, causing it to moan again. I watched as he accidentally tapped the wooden stand that it had been sitting on, which fell right on top of Po's head.

"OW! Ow"...

This was just getting sillier by the second. All I could do was just stand there, until...

"Leave us". Shifu commanded.

But before I could do so, Po mistook the order for himself and got back up and... tried to leave, only he didn't know which way to go, infuriating Shifu that much more.

"NOT... you panda". Shifu spoke through gritted teeth. I quickly bowed and slithered out the back entrance, leaving the two to... talk.

After that little ordeal, I decided the training hall was the best place to go. No doubt that Shifu would have wanted me to continue my training. As I entered, I found all five warriors going about their normal daily routine as though the tournament never happened. I slithered carefully down the stairs into the arena, seeing that they each had a look of either disappointment, confusion and anger, though the last emotion only seemed to be shown from Tigress as she attempted the spinning logs, putting her aggression to use as the spinning clubs exploded with each punch that she delivered.

I slithered over to the pit of fire and waited until Viper had finished. Once she had, she landed next to me where I dared to speak.

"You okay"? I asked. My response was an angry look, making me lower my head. "Right. Sorry, stupid question".

I climbed onto the pit and dodged the flames as they shot up. I made sure to use the advice Viper had given me earlier and twisted round the flames which, actually made the pit that much easier. We kept exchanging goes on the pit. Viper was just finishing off until I heard.

"Owhoho"!

I turned to see Po, clutching his head in pain. At least he was still in one piece from Shifu's wrath so that's something. I made my way over to the right side of the catwalk as they were in the middle of talking.

"Now"? Po asked Shifu.

"Yes. Now. Unless you think the great Oogway was wrong, and you are not the dragon warrior".

"Oh, okay. Um... I- I dunno if I can- if I can do all those moves". Po spoke quietly, making Shifu laugh as the both of slowly walked round the side to where I was.

"Well if we don't try, we'll never know". I saw Shifu give somewhat of a sinister smile as he spoke, making me feel pity for the panda as whatever Shifu had planned was bound to end badly.

"Yeah, it's just, maybe we can find something more suited to my... level".

"And what level is that"?

"You know, I... not a master, but let's just start at zero. Level zero". Po asked while Shifu grinned again.

"Oh, there's no such thing. As level zero".

"Hey, maybe I can start with that". Po pointed to the side, running towards whatever had caught his interest, though that could have been anything. It turned out to be an old looking dummy filled with sand.

"That"? Shifu asked, raising an eyebrow at the pandas choice. "We use that for training children, and for propping the door open when it's hot! But if you insist".

I would have just shook my head, but I would have been a fool to expect anything more from Po. Speaking of which, I noticed that he was looking, with an amused face, behind me. I turned to see what he was looking at this time and saw the furious five walking right next to me.

"Woah, the furious five". He muttered in a state of bliss, overjoyed to be meeting his heroes. "You're so much bigger than you're action figures. Except for you Mantis... you're about the same".

I tried not to laugh as I saw Mantis's look of suppressed anger along with a twitch from one of his antenna. A few seconds of awkward silence passed between us all.

"Go ahead panda". Shifu spoke breaking the silence. "Show us what you can do".

I had to admit, I was interested to see what Po would be capable of... at least I would have been if he hadn't been so nervous and begun stalling.

"Um... Are they gonna watch or should I wait until they get back to work or something"? Po asked, referring to the five and myself.

"Hit it". Shifu spoke with a little more force.

"Yeah! Okay, I mean... I just ate. Umm... so I'm still digesting, so my kung fu might not be as... later on"...

I just turned to Crane on my right. He just shrugged showing that he was just as confused as myself.

"Just hit it". Shifu Spoke again, starting to lose patience.

"Alright".

Po prepared himself, and begun dancing on the spot, muttering to himself. I barely caught part of what he said.

"I'm a blur. You've never seen bear style. Or praying mantis style. Monkey style".

Po began to actually mimic Monkeys screech. I looked over to see the simian's face drop. But before Po could embarrass the rest of us, Shifu had, at last, run out of patience.

"Would you HIT it"?!

His sharp voice was enough to bring Po back to the real world.

"Alright. Alright". He said in an apologetic manner before turning to the dummy and punched it. Very very lightly making the object wobble back and forth only a little.

"Oh for Gods sake". I muttered quietly, trying to soothe myself as I too was beginning to lose it.

"Why don't you try again. A little harder"? Shifu spoke calmly, seemingly glad that some progress was made. Even if it was close to eff all.

Po did as instructed a delivered a right hook to the dummy with a lot more strength.

"How's tha- AAAAAHHH"! Po yelled off guard, not realizing that the dummy had a circular base, causing it to bounce back into him just as hard. Was that a tooth that just flew out of his mouth?

Now he was in serious trouble. Before any of us could help him out, Shifu raised his hand stopping us. Seemed rather unfair, I mean, were we just going to watch Po suffer? This was just cruel, even by Shifu's standards.

As Po flew into the air, he landed right on one of the, still moving, spinning logs as Po did his best to keep himself from falling, yelling in surprise as he seemed to be holding out well enough, hopping to one log from another. At least until the spiked clubs began to swarm all around the panda as he got caught on two logs which were rolling in opposite directions away from each other making Po do the splits. I heard him groan in pain. But the worst of it was when one of the spiked clubs immediately swung hitting him right in the face, thankfully with the blunt end, with a strong enough force to send him flying and landing straight in the middle of the Jade tortoise, bouncing off the sides and rim like a big furry bouncy ball of some kind. As he did, Shifu spoke with a smile that sickened me.

"This will be easier than I thought".

The jade tortoise spun with Po shifting the weight around until he stumbled out, and right into the spinning dragon posts. Setting almost all of them off. All we could do was watch as the hard wooden arms attacked the panda from front and behind, smacking him in the face and stomach and suddenly, one arm hit him right in the groin, bringing the panda to his knees.

*Crunch*

"Oooohohohoho! My tenders"...

Dear lord, I couldn't help but coil up slightly, nearly feeling that one hit. As he got back to his feet, he...

"Wait, don't put your arm"-

My warning came too late as Po tried to rest by putting a hand on one of the arms, only to set them all off again, repeating the process.

"God damn it".

Po managed to escape the arms and wandered... right onto the pit of fire... shit.

I couldn't help but look away as Po got burnt by the jets of flame shooting up right on top of him. Though I could still hear his cries of pain. The furious five and even Shifu did the same until the worst had passed, ending the... session.

Po, by whatever strength had remained, was able to pull his body along the catwalk. Boy did he look awful. His white fur had been singed and on the very top of his head, was a single flame, no bigger than what you would have on a lit candle. He was exhausted, especially as he panted heavily.

"How did I do"? Po gasped.

Speaking for myself, it was a miracle he was even still breathing.

"There is now... a level zero". Shifu replied, extinguishing the flame with his fingers. Then, at last, Po's head hit the floor with a thump.

...

I had to watch these scenes sooo many times to get the exact words from each and every character. But it's done. Thank goodness. But enough moaning from me, I hope you enjoyed reading. Cheerio!


	5. The first day

The night arrived quickly and everybody had begun to make their way up the stairs towards the barracks. I, on the other hand, stayed with Po. I guessed that the guy could use a bit of company. Especially after such a... bad day. And I say that mildly as well. The journey upstairs was quiet, all apart from the judgmental comments the five were giving off about Po from about ten or so meters away.

"I just don't understand what master Oogway was thinking. The poor guy's just going to get himself killed".

That was Viper. At least she was somewhat concerned for Po's well being. I suppose that someone has to other than myself.

"He is so fiesty. The dragon warrior. Fell out of the sky on a ball of fire".

That sounded like Crane. I was a little surprised at his mocking attitude. After the way he had almost instantly helped me out, I was certain that he would have done the same to Po. I could almost have bet on it.

"When he walks, the very ground shakes".

Mantis now, followed by some light laughter. This, I did expect, I mean, come on it's Mantis we're talking about here. Of course he would make fun of anybody in any situation.

"One would think, that master Oogway would chose someone who actually knew kung fu".

No doubt about it. Tigress. And I could tell by her tone of voice that she wasn't happy. Actually, let me re phrase that. She was more pissed off than she normally is. As rude as it was, it was still accurate.

"Or could at least touch his toes". Crane spoke up again, leaving...

"Or even see his toes".

... Monkey. Right on cue. Again, I would have expected this from his type of behaviour so nothing I didn't expect. It was as though none of them knew that Po was sleeping in the barracks. They were in for a surprise.

I checked back on Po, to see how the big guy was doing. The second I looked at him, he was lifting his stomach, trying to shift it to the side as to prove that he could actually see his toes. His efforts were in vain.

"Hey, don't worry about them". I spoke to Po, lightly slapping his hands from his stomach. "They just need some time to calm down and they'll be treating you with respect in no time".

"Y-you really think that"?

"Of course. I mean, they're still getting to know me, but yeah, why not"?

This got the panda to give a smile to me as to say thanks, but it looked more as though he forced himself to.

"Hey, you have nothing to fear. I'll help you out each step of the way. Okay"?

"You sure? I mean, it-it-it's not I'd wanna embarrass you or... or anything ya know"?

"Trust me, I'll live. As far as you know, we're in this together. Sort of, I mean, I wasn't even given the chance to become dragon warrior, but you do".

"... Wow. That must have... you know, kinda sucked".

"Yeahhhh not as much as you think. Come on, we better get some sleep. We're going to need it in six hours"-

"Woahwoahwoah, we have to get up in six hours"?

"...Yes"?

"... Seriously"?

"Yes".

"... Right... just that, I- I- do I look like the morning type"?

I looked the panda up and down from head to toe.

"If I were to sugarcoat it, maybe not as much as myself".

"Ah".

"Don't worry, you'll do fine... I hope".

With that, the pair of us headed up the stairs and to the front door. I opened it and we found everybody to be in their own barracks. Po took this on board at once and... tried sneaking across at a snails pace, which wouldn't have bothered me as much if it wasn't for the loud creaking that came along with it.

Po made it a few decent steps forward, at least until.

*SNAP*

The bloody floorboards gave away instantly, making Po sink halfway into the ground whilst I let out a yelp of surprise. No doubt that everybody heard that. This caused Po to panic and he pulled himself from the floor and tiptoed as quick as he could, making even louder creaking noises as he did, across the floor and barged... straight into Cranes room. Damn it.

I was about to help him out until the door to the right of me opened, showing Viper.

"Is everything okay? I thought I heard something break"?

I smirked and moved to the side, revealing the broken floorboards.

"... What happened"?

Seriously? She didn't know?

"I'll give you a hint. Something that's black and white, and is most certainly not light on its feet".

"The panda"?

"Yes. And "the panda" happens to have a name".

"Sorry sorry. I guess it's just been a strange day for all of us".

"It's alright. I just hate it when people judge someone right away without them getting to know them. At least you feel some sympathy for the guy".

"Well, it sounds like you do to".

"Guess someone has to, right"? I laughed softly. "Listen, now that we have a moment to ourselves, I just wanted to ask how you're feeling. About... today".

"Don't worry about me. I suppose I just need time to let things settle down. All of us anyway".

"Indeed".

"Look, we better get some sleep before training tomorrow, so if you don't mind"...

I gave a small sigh.

"It's alright. I understand that you don't want to talk, no need to fake being polite about it".

"Wha- No, sorry! I didn't mean"-

"Don't worry. I know what you meant". I spoke, giving a smile to show no hard feelings. "Well, goodnight".

"Goodnight Mike".

Viper closed her door, no doubt feeling a little guilty due to my choice of words, and I slithered into mine and listened as I heard Po leave Cranes room, at last after another minute. Then opening the door to it again, thinking Crane had said something when he hadn't, and closed the door before sneaking back to his room. But like me, he instantly had a run in with another member of the furious five.

"Master Tigress! Didn't mean to wake you, just uh"-

"You don't belong here". She spoke coldly.

"Uh yeah, yeah. This is your room"...

"I mean, you don't belong at the Jade palace. You're a discrace to kung fu and if you have any respect for who we are and what we do, you will be gone by morning".

Tigress's door slammed shut. Leaving Po on his own in the middle of the hallway barracks.

"Big fan". I heard Po's voice before he began to head out of the barracks slowly. Creaking as he went. This was not what I had been expecting the day Po became the dragon warrior. It was much more... darker than I imagined it to be. Even so, I did what I could to get some sleep. It was the only thing I could do for now.

...

FIVE HOURS LATER

"Mike? Hello"?

I woke up at the sound of somebody from inside my room, calling my name and poking me over and over again.

"Whoever is poking me better stop it or I'll snap your arm". I growled angrily as the person instantly stopped trying to get me up. I raised my head to see Po himself. He was still here at the Jade palace? Seems like that walk he took did him some good.

"Po"?

"Yeah"?

"As stupid as it may sound, why are you in my room at this time of night"? I asked, sounding from angry to alightly annoyed.

"I... was kind of- you know, hoping if you could maybe... help me out with training"?

"Why me"?

"Well, you did say that we were in this together"...

Damn my choice of words. He had me there. I slithered off of my bed and looked at the nervous looking panda.

"Okay, what do you have in mind"?

"Ok, so I was hoping to use some of the stuff at the training hall".

"You mean training equipment"?

"Yeah, that".

"I suppose. Plus it'll show Shifu that you're made of tougher stuff than you look. I'm in".

Personally, I was mainly agreeing on this for two reasons. One to help Po out as he had done with me, and secondly, to prove to Shifu that Po is more than just a white and black food bag, no offense of course.

Instantly, the pair of us set out to the training courtyard, skipping breakfast entirely and begun with some of the equipment already spread out among us. Including some training horses that could be used for stretching.

And so we trained, for the next hour. Doing what we could to help each other out on every piece of training equipment we came across. Of course, Po had his limits tested when I saw him get stuck with both of his legs on top of the two training horses. As funny a sight as it was, I held my breath when the door to the training courtyard opened, revealing Shifu and the rest. Po hadn't even noticed as he was facing away from them until Shifu yelled out.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE"?!

Clearly he wasn't happy that Po had decided to stay. Great, there goes a waste of an hour.

"OH, uhhh... Good morning master. Thought I'd... warm up a little". Po greeted Shifu once he turned round and put a fisted hand into an open palm as a sort of bow. As he turned round, I slithered over to them, noticing that Po seemed to be unable to move his legs off of the training horses, no matter how hard he tried. The looks on everybody's dumbfounded faces were priceless.

"You're stuck". Shifu pointed out to Po as he continued to try and free himself.

"Stuck? Nah, what? stu-hahaha! Pfffft! Nah just, na yeah I'm stuck".

"Python, Crane, help him".

I did what Shifu ordered and slithered up to Po. Crane didn't seem to ecstatic as I heard him mumble quietly to himself "Oh dear".

In a few seconds, the both of us were able to get Po off of the training horses with ease, I had to push while Crane pulled Po's pants while flapping his wings as hard as he could. The only problem being that Po wasn't all too ready and fell onto his back, followed by a wheezy gasp.

"Thanks".

"Don't mention it".

"No seriously, I appreciate"-

"Ever"!

The pair of us, myself and Crane, fell back in line behind Shifu as he began to direct his anger towards the poor panda who got up.

"You actually thought you could learn to do a full split in one night"?

"I'm afraid the blame is to go to me master, I offered my assist"-

"It takes years to develop one flexibility"! Shifu spouted, completely ignoring me, only focusing all attention on Po. All I could do was just listen as he ranted on, throwing two octagonal shaped tiles high into the air. Tigress instantly stepped forwards and got on all fours.

"And years longer". Shifu snapped his fingers and the feline rocketed into the air towards the still flying tiles. "To apply it in combat".

*SMASH*

I watched as Tigress did the full split with ease and smashed the two tiles into hundreds of near microscopic pieces. As she landed back onto the ground on all fours, she walked off as though what she had done was nothing. Po was so impressed by such skill that he didn't even seem to notice the remains of the tiles rain down on top of him along with a slightly larger piece that fell right on top of his head and bounced off harmlessly. Po made an effort to pick up the piece of shattered tile as though to keep it as a souvenir.

"PUT. THAT. DOWN"! Shifu snapped. "The only souvenir we collect here, are bloody knuckles and broken bones"!

"Yeahhh". Po smiled excitedly, discarding the broken tile. "Excellent".

"Let's get started". He snapped his fingers and all of us lined up to the side while Po remained. "Let's see how you do with a few one on one sparring matches". Shifu grinned, expecting this to be enough to destroy and crush the pandas spirit. First off was Viper, but before she was called forward, I decided to ask a small favor that I was certain she would fulfill.

"Hey Viper".

"Yes Mike"?

"I just wanted to say... go easy on the guy, okay? I'd rather he stayed in one piece". Viper gave a soft smile.

"I'll do what I can".

Shifu snapped his fingers and Viper slithered opposite Po who seemed a little over confident.

"Are you ready"? Viper warned.

"I was born rea"-

Before Po even had the chance to finish talking, Viper swung her tail at Po's feet, knocking him up into the air and caused him to spin which was followed with a powerful jab strong enough to launch Po even further into the air. After that, Viper swung into the air and spun forwards, smashing her tail into Po's head with great force and Po was hurled into the ground and smashed his head on the ground.

Jesus Christ! I've never seen Viper that lethal before! What the hell was that? I said to go easy on the guy, not try and crack his skull open!

"I'm sorry brother, I thought you said you were ready". She apologized. However.

"That was AWESOME! Let's go again"!

Wow. That was unexpected. To myself and even more so to Shifu whose temper rose as he snapped his fingers again, calling forth the next opponent. Viper slithered back into her position where I gave her an angry glare of my own.

"Care to explain what THAT was"? I hissed, making sure Shifu didn't hear me as Po went off against Monkey.

"Sorry. Guess I don't know my own strength"? She smiled weakly. I just rolled my eyes and focused back towards the match where Po's face had met the ground again.

This routine went on for hours. Every single one of us had a go at beating the shit out of Po as each time, he bowed showing he was ready for more. I did what I could to go easy on Po but still, Po didn't, with respect, didn't have the experience that the rest of us had and failed. By sundown, Mantis had finished his twenty fifth beat down on Po as he hopped from the Panda and onto Monkey's shoulder. Po again put a fist into and open palm. Good God this guy was certainly resilient. Shifu thought the same as he looked on the verge of releasing all of hell against the panda.

"I've been taking it easy on you Panda, but no more. Your next opponent. Will be me".

"Alright, yeah. Let's go"!

The rest of us shared an uneasy glance at each other. We all knew full well that Shifu was about to destroy the poor guy.

"Step forth"! Shifu commanded.

But Po could complete his first step, Shifu had already made his move and spun him wildly above his head and slammed him into the ground.

"To find victory, you have to find your opponents weakness, and make him suffer for it". Shifu growled, twisting Po's arm, making two horrible crunching sounds, however Po acted as though he didn't even feel them!

"Ohhoho yeah"! He excitedly spoke before Shifu attacked again.

"To take his strength and use it against him"! Shifu slammed Po into the ground and forced him back onto his feet before deliver several high kicks to his face.

"Until he falls". Po flew and landed into front of me and the five. As he made contact with the ground. The force at which he landed at was enough to make the rest of us hop a few inches into the air. "Or quits"! Shifu pulled Po's head back by his nose, causing the panda to speak nasally.

"But a real warrior never quits. Don't worry master Shifu, I will never quit".

Finally Shifu had reached breaking point and with as much strength as his tiny body could muster, he threw Po forwards and kicked him hard enough to send him through the front doors of the courtyard and down the steps.

"God damn it". I muttered to myself as I began to chase him down the stairs. Finally, I found him at the very bottom, he had landed on his head again. He seemed just as excited.

"Uh, Po? You okay buddy"?

"Yeah I am! Let's go again"! He smiled and put his fist to an open palm.

"No, we're done for today. Come on, let's get you back to the barrack before Shifu decides to spar with you again".

I helped Po onto his feet and led him to the barracks. As we almost reached the entrance.

"Hey, hold up"! I heard and turned to see Viper slithering over with Mantis on her head. Before they got too close, I slithered forward myself to keep them from Po.

"Nonono don't even think about it you two. He's had enough for one day". I warned them dangerously. They seemed a little taken back from my change in attitude but spoke calmly.

"Don't worry, we're here to help the big guy out". Mantis assured me. I raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. "Perhaps a little acupressure will help him out"?

"Accuwhat"?

"Inserting needle into certain pressure points".

"... Alright. Fine".

I allowed Mantis to take Po in while Viper stayed with me.

"Can I ask something"?

"Go ahead". I spoke calmly, but still a little angry.

"Why are you being so... protective of him? I don't mean that in a bad way but... all the same"?

I gave a sigh.

"Let's just say I know what it's like to be the odd one out among everyone else. Come on, let's just help Po before Mantis accidentally stabs Pos eye out".

...

I almost lost all progress for this chapter and nearly had to write it out a second time so sorry for being a day or two late. Speaking of which, I'll be going up to Scotland for a week in a few days time so both stories will have to be put on hold for a while until I return. If I can, I'll try and write another one but that's a bit of a gamble. Until next time though, cheerio!


	6. No time for goodbyes

All four of us proceeded into Po's room. It looked clean and tidy for once but maybe that's because the panda hadn't had the chance to move his collection of action figures in yet. One thing that made me angry, despite what Po had to go through, was the fact that he had this great room and I was stuck with the bloody broom closet opposite! I would be sure to have a little chat with Crane next time I see him. I didn't get much of a chance to focus on my thoughts as Mantis had already started his acupuncture treatment and Viper kept hold of a box of perhaps twenty needles. Mantis made no hesitation in grabbing and sticking the long needles into Po's back as he yelped in pain and pulled some rather humorous faces.

"I thought you said acupuncture would make me BETTER"! He spoke as Mantis stuck another needle into his back.

"Trust me it will. It's just not easy finding the right nerve points under all this"-

"Fat"? Po interrupted.

"Fur. I was going to say fur".

"Sure you were".

For the moment, all I could do was watch and study the acupuncture chart that Mantis had handed to me. I couldn't even understand what it said due to the fact that it was written in Chinese, but the diagram of a panda cleared it up.

"Who am I to judge a warrior based on his size? I mean, look at me". Mantis spoke behind Po's back. The panda tried looking round to the left to try and spot the bug, only to realize that he couldn't see him. Though that was because he was on the other side of him, on the panda's right.

"I'm over here". Mantis groaned before inserting another needle into his shoulder, making Po flinch and yell, nearly launching him into the air.

"Maybe you should look at this, again". Viper explained to Mantis as she gestured for me to hold the diagram up to the insect. I did as instructed and showed the picture to Mantis as he came to a conclusion on where each needle needed to be placed.

A couple more needles were sent into Po's back, making him both cry out in pain and make him laugh. Mantis must have accidentally hit some kind of pressure point to cause the small giggle before Po yelped in pain once again. Once the torture had ended for a moment or two, Po spoke up.

"I know master Shifu's trying to inspire me and all. But if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was trying to get rid of me".

That was a joke right? Po actually didn't know that Shifu really WAS trying to get rid of him? Even so, I said nothing as did Viper and Mantis. I looked back at them to see Mantis unsure what to say while Viper gave a reassuring smile which, in my opinion ,looked a little scary when forced. Even so, Po got the message.

"I know he can seem kind of heartless". Mantis said, breaking the silence as he jumped onto Po and stuck another needle into his neck, making both myself and Viper flinch. "But, you know, he wasn't always like that".

"According to legend, there was once a time when master Shifu actually used to smile". Viper continued.

"No way. Really"? I spoke for the first time since entering the barracks, pretending to act shocked and surprised.

"Indeed so. But that was before"... Viper trailed off, almost as though she had said too much.

"Before what"? Po pressed on, waiting to hear more about the story. Before Viper had the chance to tell him, the door to Po's room opened in a flash making me flinch. I quickly turned to see Tigress. Someone really needs to put a bell on her or something.

"Before Tai Lung". She filled Po in, and unknowingly, myself as well.

Who the heck was this Tai Lung? I couldn't help but wonder. I never heard any mention of him, or her, back in my own time.

"Uhh, yeah we're not really supposed to talk about him". Crane interrupted from within his room. His silhouette stood out due to the light shining inside his room and being projected onto the paper thin wall. Tigress continued.

"Well, if he's going to stay here. He should know".

"Guys guys, I know about Tai Lung". Po spoke up, eager to share his knowledge with everybody nearby.

"He was a student, the first to master the thousand... scrolls of... Kung fu"... Po became more nervous as Tigress advanced up to him, keeping her icy glare trained on Po's who's voice had nearly broken down from the fierceness of the feline. "And... then he turned bad... and... nowhe'sinjail"... He spoke quickly and softly, unable to continue his lecture or look at Tigress in the eye anymore. Tigress was quick to take over Po's little history lesson.

"He wasn't just a student. Shifu found him as a cub. And he raised him as a son. And when the boy showed talent in kung fu, Shifu trained him. Believed in him. He told him he was destined for greatness. It was never enough for Tai Lung. He wanted the dragon scroll. But Oogway saw darkness in his heart and refused. Outraged, Tai Lung laid waste to the Valley. He tried to take the scroll by force and Shifu had to destroy what he had created. But how could he"?

Tigress paused for a moment. I saw the look in her eyes and noticed something I had never seen before from the tiger. Sadness. Even so, she continued her story to the end.

"Shifu loved Tai Lung like he had never loved anyone before. Or since".

Tigress looked down towards the floor. It was there that I managed to put most of the pieces together.

From my understanding, Shifu acted so harshly because of what this Tai Lung guy had become and did not want to risk the same mistake. So he did not show the same care and affection to Tigress. That must be why she is how she is. Tough, harsh and uncaring like a machine. All she wanted was to make Shifu proud. I would never have known that if she hadn't taken a moment to pause halfway through her story. I'd even go so far as to say I felt sorry for her. Even so, she pushed her own thoughts aside and focused back to Po.

"And now he has a chance to make things right".

As Tigress continued, I had already positioned myself to the side. As I had, I saw a big yellow triangular thing out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see that it was the tip of Cranes beak poking though another doorway between his and Po's room. Next to him was Monkey.

"Guys? Ever heard of privacy"? I asked rhetorically but got a sheepish smile from the pair. I sighed and turned back to Tigress who was still talking.

"To train the true dragon warrior. And he's stuck with you. A big, fat panda. Who treats it like a joke". Tigress finished. Po seemed sympathetic, or perhaps hurt from the harsh comment for a fraction of a second until his face suddenly and unexpectedly broke out into a goofy grin as he groaned.

"DOOOIIIIEEE"!

The hell?!

"Oh, that is it"! Tigress yelled and was about to strike the Panda until Mantis came whizzing out from behind and onto Po's face.

"WAIT! My fault, I accidentally tweaked his facial nerve"!

At that moment, Po fell over, revealing to all of us the hundreds of needles that covered every inch of his back. Jeez, would I hate to be in his position right now.

"And may have also stopped his heart". He finished and poked Po to make sure he wasn't dead. A quick twitch of the eye was enough of a response from Po to tell us he was... sort of fine.

"Okay, you're up Mike".

I had a few bruises along my body from the training session today, from Tigress. Nothing as drastic as what Po went through, but still I had slithered away with a small pain in my lower back. Apparently it was now my turn for some acupuncture.

"Yeah, you know what, I think I'll just take a walk around the Jade Palace".

"Aw come on man. I didn't do THAT bad a job to the guy".

I took another look at Po. I think it was safe to say that he had.

"Let me put it this way. If I were to choose between you and the dynamic duo of doctor Jones and doctor Free, I would most certainly pick you. Probably".

I made my way out of the room before anyone could ask who Jones and Free were. I slithered out of the barracks. It had become quite dark already so I decided to travel up to the closest area I knew of. The Peach tree.

I made my way up and took a second to look at the tree itself. It's pink petals being pulled off by the gentle breeze as the tree's fruit swung on the branches. It was a very peaceful place, this small area, if one ever wished to be alone.

"Evening young python".

I nearly jumped and got into a battle ready stance towards the source of the voice. It was Oogway, meditating near the edge of the cliff only seven feet away. How the heck had I missed him?

"Master Oogway. My apologies! I did not see you". I bowed even though the tortoise had his back to me.

"Do not threat my friend. There is nothing you should apologize for".

I slithered a little closer to Oogway.

"Master Oogway"?

Oogway just hummed questionably as a response.

"I feel like I must ask"... I felt my heart beat heavy. There was an important question that I wanted to ask. "... Is there a proper way I can get back to my own time"?

Ever since my last talk with Oogway, I had spent much of my free time looking through scrolls as for even the slightest mention of time travel or Shu Yong seeds. I had found nothing. My hope and patience were beginning to wear thin.

"Is there anything I can do to help myself"?

This seemed to capture Oogways attention as he finished meditating and turned round. He wore a smile that seemed kind and sympathetic.

"A single soul may accomplish many things in his life. But with the help of others, he will rise higher than he thought possible".

As interesting as it was to hear Oogways words of wisdom, they took some time to figure out the meaning behind them. Sort of like a puzzle. It took a few seconds but I put together what he meant. Seeking help from others.

"But Master Oogway, you're the only one who knows about the Shu long seeds. Not to mention you made me promise not to tell any of the others about the future".

"Indeed I did, but what of your friends from your own time"?

My eyes widened. I had completely forgotten about everyone else from my time! Were they even aware that I was gone? Had they thought I had run off again or died? My mind flooded with guilt and fear from not knowing.

"I... don't think they may even know that I'm even missing". I admitted, looking to the dirt covered ground. "For all I know, they may not even remember me".

I stayed in my hunched position for what felt like minutes when it was only seconds that passed. the only thing that got my attention was the scaly hand of Oogway touching the top of my head. I got myself to look up.

"There may not be proof of such a thing, but tell me young python. What is it your heart tells you"?

I looked to my chest and thought long and hard about the answer.

"That if they do remember me, they would miss me". I spoke with confidence. Oogway grinned.

"Then you know that they would do anything within their power to never give up on you, so long as you never give up on them".

I gave a weak smile. That made me feel so much better then I had in ages. Before I could even give a thank you, I heard someone running up the stairs. Oogway winked to me and simply walked back over to where he was first meditating. I was the opposite and was panicking from the fact that it might be Shifu. No doubt he would be beyond angry if he thought I had disturbed Oogway during meditating. I did the only thing I could think of and jumped straight into the branches and hid deep within the petals just before the red panda himself appeared. A cluster of petals threatened to betray my position as they fell but Shifu was too distracted to notice. I watched as the scene below me unfolded.

"Master! Master"! Shifu begun in a frightened whisper.

Oogway glanced over his shell to acknowledge Shifu as he babbled. "I uh... it's- It's very bad news".

"Ah Shifu. There is just news. There is no good or bad". The tortoise chuckled softly as he turned round to his fear filled student.

"Master, your vision. Your vision was right! Tai Lung has broken out of prison! He's on his way"!

I nearly slipped off the tree branch I had coiled around after hearing what Shifu had said. The guy I had just learned about less than an hour ago, the guy who's apparently an extremely powerful one man army, has escaped and is heading here?! The sentence seemed to have an effect on even Oogway as well as his eyes widened and his mouth hung slightly open.

"That IS bad news".

I felt a knot in my stomach. At least until Oogway smiled again.

"If you do not believe that the dragon warrior can stop him".

"The panda"? Shifu exclaimed angrily. "Master, that panda is not the dragon warrior. He wasn't even meant to BE here! It was an accident".

"There are no accidents".

Shifu gave a long sigh and gathered his thoughts.

"Yes I know. You've said that already. Twice".

"Well, that was no accident either".

"Thrice".

"My old friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny nor you yours. Until you let go of the illusion of control".

Shifu seemed to take offence at the sentence.

"Illusion"? He asked confused.

"Yes. Look at this tree Shifu".

I kept deathly silent as the pair looked upwards to view the petals and the fruit. I didn't dare move an inch lest I wanted Shifu to see me.

"I cannot make it blossom when it suits me, or make it bear fruit before its time".

"But there are things we can control". Without warning, Shifu kicked the tree with enough force to nearly make me fall off. Every single peach that grew on the tree fell from it, several falling and bouncing off of me. I accidentally grabbed one, well by grabbed I mean to say I looked up just as a peach fell with enough speed to force its way halfway through my jaw but not enough to get a good grip.

Oogway frowned, as though dissapointed that Shifu had not taken on board his advise and that he kept on fighting to kick the panda out.

"I can control when the fruit will fall".

I chose a bad moment to let the fruit fall from my mouth. I tried to prevent myself from giving a small laugh as it hit Shifu right on the centre of his head. Thankfully he didn't seem to care. Oogway gave his own laugh as Shifu's expense as the red panda continued to speak, picking up a single peach as he did.

"I can control"- Shifu threw the peach high into the air and jumped after it, slicing the fruit into two perfect halves with a single hand chop as though it was a knife. The seed planted at the middle remained unharmed. Shifu landed back onto the ground. "-Where to plant the seed".

Just as expected, Shifu caught the still falling seed just before it could hit the ground and punched a fist sized hole into the ground.

"That. Is no. Illusion. Master".

The seed was then thrown into the hole, ending Shifu's little tantrum. Throughout the whole ordeal, Oogway remained calm and cheerful. It scared me just imagining what it would be like to face him if he was ever truly angry.

"Ah yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree".

Oogway walked over to Shifu, looking at the peach tree above him. Though I could have sworn he was looking right at me. He then looked back to Shifu who looked away in anger. "You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach".

"But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung"!

"Maybe it can"...

I watch Oogway bend down and filled the hole with the peach seed up with dirt.

"... If you are willing to guide it. To nurture it. To believe in it".

It seemed that, for the moment, Oogway had managed to get through to the stubborn red panda as he had calmed down, forgetting his anger. Only his fear remained.

"But how? HOW? I need your help master".

"No... You just need to believe. Promise me Shifu. Promise me you will believe".

"I... I will try".

The wind began to blow harder, past the branches, pulling off more petals as it did.

"Good".

Oogway stood up and also noticed the winds sudden change of speed. But what came next was something neither I or Shifu expected.

"My time has come".

Oogway turned back round to Shifu and placed his wooden staff in the red panda's miniature hands.

"You must continue your journey without me".

What? What does he mean?

"Wha-what-what are you"...

Oogway proceeded to walk towards the edge of the cliff. Pink petals swarmed the area below me. The tree would be left with no petals at this rate.

"Master"! I heard Shifu cry but I kept my eyes focused on Oogway. "You can't leave me".

Oogway faced Shifu one more time. For the last time.

"You must believe". He spoke, smiling as he began to close his eyes.

"Master"!

What happened next was something of a haunting beauty as Oogway rised into the air. Then, from his feet to his head, his entire body glowed and transformed into the pink petals already scattered all around. I was so shocked, so horrified at such a scene that I hadn't even noticed that every single petal on the tree had blown off. If Shifu had looked up at that point, I would have been easily found.

The petals simply floated away and Shifu remained in the same position for minutes, his ears flattened against his head and his spirit broken until at last he slowly made his way back down the stairs, careful not to let Oogways staff hit the floor.

I finally slid off the tree and took Shifu's place. Staring at the starry night sky in search for any remaining petals. I stood there for at least five minutes before coming to my thoughts.

This might have been the last time I would have ever seen Oogway. But sometime, in a couple of years, maybe longer. He would find me again and send me here. To this world. I wonder if he'll even know it would be me.

"AAAAAHHHH"!

A sudden scream pierced the silence. That sounded like Po! I rushed down the stairs and saw the panda running from the barracks as fast as his pudgy form could carry him. I slithered up behind some bushes and was about to stop him when Shifu landed out of nowhere and did it for me. I kept behind the bushes. Neither of the two knew I was here.

"You cannot leave"! Shifu demanded. " A real warrior never quits"!

"Watch me"! Po challenged as he tried to leave but was spun round by Shifu using Oogways staff. As this was going on, I was too observant to realize that someone was right behind me.

I felt something cover my mouth, causing my instincts to act up and I grabbed the attacker by the throat and spun round. It was Viper. I let go at once and she did the same.

"What are you doing"? I hissed angrily over the sudden scuffle, ignoring what was happening on the other side of the bushes.

"Sorry, I couldn't risk you yelling out in surprise".

I calmed myself down. I had gone through too much already, I didn't need to have a meltdown with a Kung fu master. I listened as she continued.

"Where were you? I had to save you a bowl of soup in the barracks". She scolded me like an overprotective mother.

"It's complicated. Listen, I don't know if you've been told yet but"-

"Master Oogway is gone and Tai Lung is on his way here"? No way that was just a wild guess.

"Shifu told you"?

"Of course".

"Look, I- if there's anything you need, you know a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to, I'm here".

Viper took comfort in this and smiled. "Thanks Mike. But I'm already looking out for someone else".

"Who"?

Viper only pointed up. I followed where her tail was directed and saw someone on top of the roof above Po and Shifu, who were still fighting by the way.

"Is that Tigress"?

"Who else"?

"What's she doing"?

"My guess, she's going to try and stop Tai Lung".

"By herself? What is she thinking, we need to stop her"!

"There's no changing her mind. She's already set on her goal, all we can do is let her do what she has to do".

I wasn't an idiot. I knew exactly what Viper was planning to do.

"You're going after her aren't you"?

"We all are. Everyone else is ready to move when Tigress does".

I nodded and stared back up to Tigress. Without warning, she jumped from the roof and out of site.

"Looks like that's our cue".

I nodded and smiled and Viper was about to go after her.

"Viper"! She stopped for a moment and turned back to me. I slithered up to her and placed my tail on her shoulder.

"Just... be careful. Alright"?

"I will".

Unexpectedly to me, Viper gave me a kiss on the cheek and slithered from my sight after Tigress. I just smiled and made my way back into the barracks, into the kitchen where a single bowl of soup remained, untouched. I proceeded to drink it and sighed as the still warm liquid ran down my throat. I gave a weak smile.

"This is some amazing soup".

...

That's another one finished. It took some patience but we're getting somewhere with the story. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Cheerio!


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